Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Initiative
(2012-2014)The Los Angeles County Department
of Public Health funded several agencies to develop and
implement one or more strategies that will create an
environment where it is convenient, safe and easy for
community members to eat healthfully and participate in
physical activity every day. The HEAL Initiative
grantees will pursue a variety of strategies including,
but not limited to, active transportation plans;
increasing access to healthy foods; and safe routes to
school plans. The HEAL Initiative is funded by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Servicesí
Community Transformation Grants initiative.

Project RENEW (2010-2012)The Los Angeles County Department
of Public Health received a $15.9 million Communities
Putting Prevention to Work grant from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention over a two-year period
beginning in March 2010. The RENEW (Renew Environments
for Nutrition, Exercise and Wellness) LA County
initiative was designed to improve nutrition, increase
physical activity and reduce obesity, especially in the
communities that need it the most. RENEW LA County
worked with more than 25 locally-funded partners to help
make LA County a more satisfying place to live, work,
learn and play.

PLACE Grants (2008-2011)
In 2008, the Department of Public
Health funded five cities and community-based
organizations to pursue built environment policies and
projects that increase opportunities for physical
activity. Each PLACE Initiative was awarded
approximately $100,000 per year over a three-year period
to pursue policy development and passage. In addition,
each initiative received a one-time award of $20,000
upon completion of a physical project. The physical
projects were actual improvements made to the
streetscape to encourage safer biking and walking, such
as traffic calming measures, bike lanes, sidewalk
improvements, tree-planting, and way finding signage to
indicate distance to key destinations.

Healthy Design
Workgroup
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted the
Healthy Design Ordinance (HDO) in February 2013 to
improve the built environment by updating the Countyís
zoning regulations. The PLACE program has participated
in an interdepartmental effort to expand on that work as
through participation in the Healthy Design Workgroup.
The Healthy Design Workgroup is a collaboration between
several departments to create healthy built environments
in Los Angeles County by creating design guidelines,
changing County policies, and improving coordination
between departments.

Automated
Bicyclist and Pedestrian Counter Program
In order to encourage monitoring of active
transportation in LA County, the Department of Public
Health has purchased automated equipment for counting
bicyclists and pedestrians. The equipment is currently
being tested in a pilot project and it will be used by
HEAL and HPI partners in 2014. DPH may make the
equipment available to other cities depending on need
and availability. Please contact Louisa Franco at
lfranco@ph.lacounty.gov for more information.